Southwest Airlines Co. passenger plane. in April it came 400 meters into the ocean off the coast of Hawaii after weather conditions forced the pilots to make an overrun attempt to land.
Boeing Co. aircraft. The 737 Max 8 descended briefly at a maximum speed of 4,000 feet per minute before the flight crew took off to avoid a disaster, according to a report Southwest distributed to pilots last week, seen by Bloomberg News. . No one was injured on the plane, which returned safely to its home airport in Honolulu.
After questions from Bloomberg, the US Federal Aviation Administration said it was investigating the incident.
This previously unreported massacre adds to the number of security incidents that have attracted people’s attention as airlines have expanded significantly since the start of the pandemic. It also comes as Southwest’s management faces growing pressure from activist firm Elliott Investment Management and other investors over frustration with the company’s poor financial performance and unorthodox business culture.
“Nothing is more important to Southwest than safety,” the airline said in an emailed statement about the Hawaii flight. “Through our strong Safety Management System, the event was handled appropriately as we always strive for continuous improvement.”
Southwest Flight 2786 descended from an altitude of about 1,000 feet to 400 feet above sea level in a matter of seconds, according to data from the ADS-B Exchange, a flight tracking website. The plane, which was near Lihue Airport on the island of Kauai, then began to climb rapidly.
The pilot was “going up and down hard and close to uncontrollable — very close,” Kit Darby, a former commercial pilot and flight instructor, said in an interview after reviewing the flight data. “It’s going to feel like a roller coaster ride.”
According to Southwest’s review, the incident occurred following a aborted landing attempt due to bad weather that prevented the pilots from seeing the runway at the specified altitude.
The captain chose to put the “new” first officer first on the short flight to Lihue despite the forecasts, according to the memo.
The inexperienced first officer “inadvertently” pushed forward on the control column while following the movement of the thrust lever caused by the airplane’s automatic throttle. The pilot then reduced speed, causing the plane to descend. Soon after, the warning system sounded alarms indicating that the plane was approaching too high and the captain ordered the first officer to raise the thrush. The plane then “climbed violently” at 8,500 feet per minute, the memo said.
Planes preparing to land typically glide at a rate of 1,500 to 2,000 feet per minute ahead of the runway, Darby said, and slow to 800 feet about five miles from the airport.
The National Transportation Safety Board is not aware of the Southwest incident, said a police spokesperson. The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association declined to comment.
Southwest declined to provide the flight number or specify the date of the incident, citing an FAA-directed safety program where pilots and other employees can report concerns anonymously.
The carrier concluded in its latest negative review that proper driver monitoring and better communication between employees are essential. Among other measures, it committed to review industry and internal information related to its processes and training procedures.
The Southwest incident is reminiscent of the incident that occurred in December 2022 when a United Airlines Holdings Inc. landing about 750 feet into the ocean after a sudden crash shortly after takeoff from a separate airport in Hawaii. That incident was investigated by the FAA and the NTSB, which determined that the error was caused by a disagreement between the pilots on the plane.
The pilots involved in that flight received additional training as a result of the incident.
Southwest was little changed at the close of regular trading in New York on Friday.
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